Grandma Stasia's Bigos. It Was the Best Because She Used Three Meats and One Unexpected Ingredient

Bigos is a classic of Polish tables, and everyone will agree that traditional Polish holidays are incomplete without a bowl of hot, hearty bigos. The recipe for bigos is simple, but today we'll share how to make it the way Grandma did. My grandmother put special care into this dish and always chose three types of meat-sausage, pork neck, and bacon. In addition to that, there were a few other tasty ingredients.

Bigos is more than just cabbage with pieces of meat. This dish is inseparably associated with the family table and brings back fond memories. Our mothers and grandmothers always served bigos on various holidays, and today I want to share the recipe my grandmother used to make. There was no skimping on ingredients—this bigos was loaded with meat, mushrooms, plums, and a secret ingredient from Grandpa's cellar. I still dream about that taste at night.

Grandma Stasia's Holiday Bigos

Ingredients:

• 2 kg of sauerkraut
• Half a head of white cabbage
• 500 g of pork neck
• 300 g of smoked bacon
• 300 g of smoked sausage
• A handful of dried mushrooms
• A few smoked plums
• 1 large onion
• Broth made from smoked bones or vegetable broth
• A little flour
• Salt, pepper, sugar, allspice, bay leaves, caraway seeds
• If the sauerkraut didn't have carrots, add two to the bigos

BigosFot. Agata Jakubowska / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

Instructions:

1. Prepare a large pot and heat a generous portion of lard or butter. Cut the meat and sausage into cubes. Make sure the bacon is diced finely, while the rest can be in larger pieces. Then, fry everything.
2. When the meat is browned, stir it and add the drained sauerkraut and finely chopped white cabbage. Reduce the heat and add the soaked mushrooms along with the soaking water, 2 cups of broth, and a few bay leaves and allspice.
3. Cook everything on low heat, stirring occasionally. After some time, add the chopped plums and continue cooking for about 2 hours. Then turn off the heat and let the bigos cool.
4. Once cooled, transfer the bigos to the cellar or refrigerator. The next day, heat it again, and when it’s hot—this is my grandfather's trick—add 1/3 cup of cognac or plum liqueur. Cook the bigos until the alcohol evaporates. Let it cool again.
5. On the following day, reheat the bigos again, stirring constantly. It will be aromatic and truly delicious. If you think the bigos is too thin, you can add a little flour, but I don’t think it will be necessary.